it was the language that tried to push rosa parks to the back of the boss. separate but equal is the motifs that determined that black and white people could not possibly drink from the same water fountain, it eat at the same table, or use the same table. separate but equal are the words that justified separating black children from white schools, schools that would condemn them and tell them to a life in poverty. it is the same statement, the same idea, and the same dilution that we used in this country to say women could vote, but only if they were married and if they were over 30. it was the same naÏve otay that gave way for my dad, being a citizen, but refused by landlords. it is entrenched in who we are. this is not separate but equal. it is separate and discriminatory, separate and oppressed, separate and the brow beaten. separate is not equal. let's be rid of it. as long as there was -- as long as there is one rule for us and another for them, we allow barriers to go unchallenged. as long as our statute books suggest love between the two men or women